County-wide recycling proposed

Officials are betting more than three-quarters of a million dollars that Somerset County residents will recycle if given the chance.

The Somerset County commissioners gave approval Tuesday to apply for a $790,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

If awarded, the money will be used to purchase big blue recycling bins and garbage trucks as part of an effort to bring widespread recycling to Somerset County.

Until now, recycling in the county has been limited to municipalities, officials said. A few boroughs and townships have drop-off sites for recyclables, and only Somerset Borough has curbside collection.

That lack of a countywide focus plays out in the numbers. In 2001, for instance, the county produced more than 70,000 tons of trash, yet recycled less than 3,700 tons.

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"We would be going from the stone age to the space age in one leap," said county planning commission Director Brad Zearfoss.

In April, the Somerset County commissioners entered an agreement with the Cambria County Solid Waste Authority to oversee the county's new recycling program.

The authority plans to begin in the north, where four recycling depots, each with three bins, should be in place by early August, according to Tanya McCoy-Caretti, the authority's executive director.

Officials are eying locations in Windber Borough, Conemaugh Township and at the intersections of routes 219 and 30 and routes 30 and 160.

"We're already collecting recyclables in southern Cambria County. It would be easy to collect in northern Somerset County with our existing equipment and staff," she said.

Officials plan to use the grant money to extend the recycling program to at least 10 sites countywide. That process should begin in March.

"Right now, we only have the money for four," McCoy-Caretti said.

When the first four recycling depots open later this year, only newspapers and plastics will be accepted. The grant money will allow metals and clear glass to be added to the mix, according to McCoy-Caretti.

Money also will be used for education.

In Cambria County, an education coordinator visited more than 10,000 students, trying to explain why recycling is important and old habits harmful. Officials also used advertising and quarterly newsletters that were inserted into the daily newspaper, according to McCoy-Caretti.

Six years ago, the authority collected 7,000 to 8,000 pounds of newsprint each week. Now it collects more than 24,000 pounds of newspaper at 13 drop-off sites throughout Cambria County.

McCoy-Caretti said she expects a similar level of success here.

"You'll watch it explode in the course of a year," she said.

The department is expected to announce grant winners later this fall.

Somerset County's proposal should be given high priority because it is new and offers "a lot of bang… for the buck," McCoy-Caretti said.

"I think we stand a very good chance of being funded," she said.

Though the majority of the program would be funded by grant money, Somerset County would be responsible for a 10 percent match. Officials said that could come in the form of advertising or in-kind services, and not necessarily cash.

The county also will be responsible for the authority's collection costs, which are expected to be less than $5,000 in the first year.

Those costs will be covered a new administrative fee on the county's three landfills, officials have said.